League of the Lost
by ShadowCatSaki
Summary: What would happen if you took the champions from the League of Legends and dumped them on Earth? One human is about to find out. Utter chaos ensues as this average girl teams up with several of the friendlier champions to send them all back home. A single question remains on the minds of everyone involved: How did they get here? (Disclaimer: I don't own LoL or the champions.)
1. Reality Check

Chapter 1: Reality Check

What happens when you play too many video games?

…You lose your mind and you can't see reality from fantasy. At least, that's what society says about the stereotype of hardcore gamers who spend most of their lives gaming, becoming fat and lazy unproductive members of the human race, wearing diapers and skipping meals so they don't have to unglue their eyes from a screen.

…In this one instance, maybe they were right, maybe they were wrong. I still struggle every day, deciding if what happened was a figment of my crazed imagination or if it actually did happen. I'm going to write it down anyway, so I don't forget a single detail. I want to remember, forever, the day they fell into my lap.

…..

It was supposed to be just a regular day…isn't that the way all the books start things that have ordinary days turn into extraordinary events? Maybe I should start with different wording and break the Meta…Nah, let's just go with that. Anyway, it was just another day for me. Before my new life started, I'd wake up, get on my computer to play my favorite online game of all time, League of Legends, and then go to bed when I finally got tired.

I was becoming one of those gamers that gamed all hours of the day, just to relieve my stress and the pain I was going through. After high school, I moved in with my mother again, my stepmother had become a great pain in the ass. I found a bit of work as a babysitter to help pay for my college education. But, after New Year's Day, things took a turn for the worse gradually.

First, my grandfather, who had been ill for some time, died the day after he went into hospice care. Three months later, I had another funeral to go to. My father, suffering from diabetes, suddenly went into a seizure and never came out. The gaping wounds in my heart from my grandfather's passing never even had time to close before they were ripped open and new ones were added. And the scars from my grandmother's loss when I was eleven had just started to slowly fade away. To top it off, the folks I was babysitting for stopped calling me to work. I just lost the only men left in my family that loved me more than anything, and now I had no money.

Everything was falling to pieces. The stress was killing me. I no longer had any desire to really care about my future anymore. My once happy-go-lucky attitude turned downright pessimistic. It never took much for people to set me off, especially my jerk of a little brother, but he just likes to push my buttons to get any response out of me at all.

I had to get out. Thanks to the inheritance I got from my deceased relatives, I moved into my grandfather's house. I practically grew up in that beautiful place, and I was glad that I was the one to get it. I wanted somebody to get it that would take care of it. Of course I had to dip into money from my inheritance to pay bills on utility until I got my job at a little café down the street, but it wasn't so bad. Though, it was getting lonely in that empty house. The memories there hurt, but I suffered through them anyway. Being alone was better than everybody else watching me crumple into nothing.

Now that you know that soppy back story I always hate telling people, (I HATE sympathy from others, it makes me feel pathetic. I like to think I'm not some attention-hogging dumbass like a lot of teenage girls are in high school complaining about the most menial things like their cell phone being taken away or the boy that they like won't notice them) let's get to the actual story.

…..

I'd finished my work shift, did a little shopping, grabbed some iced coffee (halleluiah for the invention of iced coffee) and headed home. Chores were done first before I went to what used to be my grandfather's office and sat at my desk. Headphones, check. Iced coffee, check. League of Legends up and running? Check. I logged into C3, the program I use for chatting with my teammates during matches, and found that nobody was on today. _Well a lot of my friends are busy with stuff today, so I guess I'm solo queuing._

ARAM is my favorite game mode, it's where I met most of the champions I play. I'm not a great player, stuck forever in Bronze I, but I work hard to get better. Playing support is my strong suit, but I do mid often as well and on the rare occasion, the ADC role with my Ashe. Besides her and my Leona support, I play only AP casters. I'm just not good at tanking or jungling. Jungling is kind of boring for me anyways. I like being in the lane, helping out my teammates as much as possible. I'm not really crazy about getting kills either, so I'm not a great ADC at all and I rage when people steal my kills in mid lane. I'm not really in the mood to get pissed off at kill-stealing champions (mostly fucking Lee Sins, stupid assholes I HATE YOU, STUPID BLIND MONK!) so I'm going to play ARAM today.

I played for several hours, sometimes getting champions I'm terrible at, sometimes getting champions I own at in the roll. One match stood out above all others though: I had a good team comp with me playing my favorite mid lane champion, Lux, but we still lost thanks to the other team's Ezreal. That global ultimate kept killing me every single time! He was also really good at dodging my ultimate, the most troll fucking laser ever invented in the history of all of Valoran, which made me rage so hard. My singularity finding their idiot Zed every single time in the bushes saved us a few times and spared us for a few more minutes, but the Ezreal dominated in that match and we lost our Nexus before the 25 minute mark of the game.

That was the point where I rage-quitted and took a break from league. My team had no idea what they were doing! They kept focusing down the tanks or hiding behind the turret like care-bearing idiots, as usual in ARAM when people have no idea that poking wins the matches and being hyper-aggressive is how to play. I decided I'd stick to AI games for the rest of the day to practice my various champions after I ate dinner. Next time I get enough IP, I might buy Ezreal to see what all the fuss is about. He was an ADC champion but maybe I'd actually be good at him. I love ranged characters to death, and maybe this would be a good change of pace from Ashe, who's not a very tough ADC until late game and has almost no escapes besides the Summoner spell Flash and kiting with her Q.

I sighed as I made myself a cup of ramen for dinner, I wasn't that hungry anyway. The picture of me and my grandmother on my fridge had brought back painful memories and I'd lost my appetite quickly, as I usually do these days. "You know what they say, Grandma. Life is like an ARAM match. You never know what you're going to get." _At least in ARAM though you can reroll if you don't like what you got._

After eating dinner, I went back to my computer to play, but I couldn't log in to the game, the server was down. A message on the server status page that I pulled up said that an issue had occurred with the game and they were performing maintenance, so all servers were shut down until they could resolve the issue. Well, there went my night. I had work again for a few hours tomorrow anyway, so I guess it was time to hit the sack early.

I retreated into my bathroom to change into my panda tee shirt and grey shorts for bed, as well as do the usual bathroom necessities before retiring for the evening. As I brushed my teeth and looked at my face in the mirror, I saw myself, looking physically and emotionally exhausted as usual. My porcelain skin was always as white as a sheet, even though I get out once in a while. I have to get sunburnt to tan, so I try to avoid sunny days like the plague.

Dark circles under my bright blue eyes told me I REALLY needed to get more sleep, but I have a sleep insomnia problem, and I have a thing about not taking sleep medication. That matter was still on a back burner to find some home remedies to see if I can fix that problem. So far, nothing helps. It takes me at least an hour or two to fall asleep depending on how exhausted I am, because I'm up, fully awake, brain working at max as I think about random things until I fall asleep.

Feels like one of those nights again where I'll barely get any sleep at all.

…..

True to my gut feeling, I only had about four hours of sleep. Work was hell, the boss was hell, customers were hell, so I was SO READY to go home and see if League of Legends had fixed the problem so I could use the game as an outlet to vent my rage on unsuspecting AI champions.

…Too bad the game was still down. On the Riot home page, people were raging the game was still under maintenance, but there really wasn't much that the players could do besides wait for the problem to be fixed. I would have to settle for actually going outside in the backyard for once and doing something like reading a book in the glass patio. At least the view was nice, the patio overlooked the garden that Pops once kept. I wish I had the skill to keep a garden that beautiful, but I just settle for watering the flowers that are still here and trying to keep them alive.

Going downstairs and out onto the patio, I sat down on one of the comfortable chairs and cracked open the last book from the Harry Potter series. I used to be so addicted to this series, Mom pre-ordered the book as soon as I told her it came out. We went to the Harry Potter party at the bookstore to celebrate the final book as well. When I went home with the book, I literally took an entire 24 hours to read the book. I even ate and used the bathroom while reading it to finish it as soon as possible. (Yes, I'm that freakishly fast of a reader. I still even understand every word I'm reading. I can read the book and give you a detailed summary even two weeks after reading it.)

I was barely through the second chapter when a loud commotion in the backyard started me. Hopefully that stupid groundhog hadn't come back to dig up the yard. I put the book down and opened the back door, stepping onto the huge concrete square slab on the ground that made up a sort of porch or walkway so we could put a grill or furniture here without worrying about the darn grass.

Coming outside was a bad move on my part. One second I'm headed towards the garden and the old fish pond to check to see if it was really the groundhog, the next, there's a familiar looking blade pressed against my throat and the feeling of a person behind me. Whoever it was had just grasped my left arm in a death grip.

"Who are you? What is this place!?" The voice was definitely a guy's voice. A cold shiver of panic was going up my spine. Why did that blade look so familiar? It's not any typical knife, this thing looked more like a weapon out of a Final Fantasy game, large and deadly-looking.

Okay, plan one of escape, surprise attack. I'd watched enough anime and a lot of action flicks to come up with a plan quickly. I stomped on his left foot with my own black leather boot, catching him by surprise, so he released the death grip. With my right arm I pushed away the arm holding his blade and made a run towards the shed. Maybe I could run in and barricade myself inside until I could come up with a plan or until the neighbors decided to investigate? It was a plan, at least.

I didn't get very far, though. A sound like a projectile whizzing through the air caught my ears right before a sharp pain went shooting up my side. I fell to the ground in surprise, right on my face. I flipped myself over to see my attacker while my hand covered the injury I had to my right side, warm blood seeping between my fingertips, staining my already dark red tee and spilling onto my black cargo pants as well.

…I must be seeing things…that person looks like he's cosplaying Talon! The Noxian assassin was well known in the game because of his annoying abilities. _He snuck up behind me with no sound…like Talon's E, Cutthroat, when he pops up behind an enemy…and I guess that attack just now was his W, Rake…_

The Talon cosplayer had the bloodied daggers that he had thrown at me in his hand, and he was wiping them clean. This guy must have been a real freak for League of Legends if he even had real weapons that look just like Talon's weapons in the game. His voice even sounded like the voice actor that portrays his voice in the game. That must have taken a lot of practice to mimic. Either way, he was off his rocker if he was using the cosplay to hurt and scare people like the real Talon would have if he was actually real and not a fictional character made up by Riot.

"Answer my question, and I will let you live." He looked dead serious.

"H-How do you not know where you are…? You lost or something…?" Maybe he has dementia? Might be the reason why he's so nutty. "This is Glen Burnie, in Maryland…?" I'm of mostly Japanese descent but my family moved here generations ago. I don't know the whole story.

"…I must have somehow stumbled across the Shadow Isles…this land is…unknown to me…"

"…But the Shadow Isles is in Valoran,…in Runeterra…" He's taking the cosplay thing to the extreme. "This isn't Runeterra at all! Runeterra doesn't even exist. It's just in a computer game! You're absolutely delusional!"

"Liar! You think I will fall for such easy deception?! You must be a Demacian agent!" Uh-oh, I just pissed off the crazy guy.

"I'm not lying, honest! You clearly have a mental disorder, seeing as your cosplaying Talon and pretending that you're actually from Runeterra. He's a fictional character! You need help, sir, whoever you are."

"I AM Talon, under the service of General Du Couteau!"

"…You really are nuts…"

"Tell me the truth, or I'll end you!"

"I am telling you the truth, just leave me alone!" Tears were streaking down my face now as I pushed myself up off of the ground with the hand not covering my injury. "You're insane!" Doing the only thing I could, I turned tail and ran for the shed again, but he easily caught up to me, cheating by mimicking Rake again and slicing open my right calf with a blade, causing me to fall flat on my face on the rock bed that the shed stood on, scraping my arms and hands as I tried to brace myself for the impact. (Once again, another walkway so we don't have to worry about grass.)

The Talon cosplayer was just about to strike me with his weapon when I heard the familiar sound of what sounded like an Ezreal firing his abilities. Some glowing thing hit the crazy Talon imitator and he turned around, glaring daggers at something across the yard. I took the opportunity to jump to my feet, no matter how much my leg was hurting, and went into the shed. Unlike my Pops, I left it unlocked as there was really nothing in there of value except for some yard tools and rope for whatever reason my grandfather had it. It was difficult, figuring out how to tie the door shut since it swung outward, so I just tied the inside handle to one of the beams in the roof, as the shed was short.

Now all I could do was wait until he left or the neighbors called the cops, maybe even an asylum to get this guy admitted. I curled up in a back corner of the shed and waited, practically holding my breath the entire time to hear what was going on outside. This is why I hate Noxians in League of Legends. You have to be crazy to cosplay as one of those war-mongering maniacs.

All I could hear was the clang of metal and more Ezreal sound effects from the game. I don't know how long I sat in the shed, but eventually, everything outside went quiet. Still, how that Talon cosplayer snuck up on me earlier, he might just be waiting for me to come out so he can get me.

My head snapped up when I heard the sound of someone trying to open the door, but the rope wouldn't give. Letting out a childish whimper, I backed myself up further into the corner, trying to make myself as small as possible to not be seen. I was acting quite like a child, but my fear had reduced me to this. Silent tears were streaking down my face again. I hardly make noise when I cry, and I was thankful for that at the moment.

It took only ten seconds of pulling at the door for the intruder to give up, but in the next moment, a tall man that was very yellow appeared right in front of the door accompanied with bright light and more Ezreal sound effects from the game when he does Arcane Shift.

"You didn't have to lock me out, too!" _Oh my god, I'm losing my fucking mind._ ANOTHER COSPLAYER!? I have no idea how he mimicked Ezreal's E to get through the door, but there he was, staring at me like I had three heads.

"Oh come on, he's gone now, there's no need to make that pitiful face anymore! Damn Noxians…I hate them." His cheerful face soured for a second as the Piltover cartographer brought up the people of Noxus.

"…" I didn't say anything, I was sitting there, dumbfounded. My mind was practically shutting down at all of this weirdness. It couldn't take much more of this crazy day.

"Talon's just a wimp picking on the defenseless. When it comes to skill, he's no match for me! I sent that dirty Noxian running back to where he came from. You don't have to be scared anymore." The second crazy cosplayer I'd seen today was coming towards me! I practically screamed at him in fright and cowered farther into the corner.

"Just stay away from me!"

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you! Damn, you're bleeding, too. Let me take a look…"

"Don't touch me! Just get away!"

"Talon's blades are dangerous; he could have seriously injured you! I need to make sure you're not going to bleed to death on me." The Ezreal cosplayer crouched in front of me but I instinctively swung a punch towards him. I managed to sock the blonde right in the jaw.

"Ouch! You've got a killer right hook, for a girl." He rubbed his face right where I'd hit him and gave me a light-hearted chuckle. I'd heard from Ezreal players that his voice actor portrayed him as a cocky and carefree kind of guy, and this cosplayer was pretty good at acting like him, almost putting me at ease with that attitude. Almost. He's still a crazy cosplayer.

"…What do you want from me…?"

"Nothing!" He seemed taken aback by my accusation as I glared at him coldly. "Just want to help. An enemy of my enemy is my friend."

…I guess I had nothing to lose. If he was just as crazy as that Talon cosplayer, I might as well just play along. I'd rather be with this seemingly friendly Ezreal than the psychotic Talon anyway. Never trust a Noxian.

"Just don't try anything funny!"

"I won't, I promise! Now, where did I put my Health Potions…?"

Oh dear lord these two really take the cosplaying to an extreme.

"Looks like I don't have any on me. You got any Health Potions?"

"…We don't have Health Potions here…I have a first aid kit in the closet at the end of the hallway on the main floor of the house though…"

"No problem! I'll go get it!" With a cheery attitude, Ezreal headed for the door, and once again pulled off another Arcane Shift, teleporting to the other side. In a matter of minutes, he came back, once again using Ezreal's E, with the box in his hand. At least he seems to be sane enough to know what a first aid kit is. "Would be quicker if I had Health Potions, but this will have to do."

Nervousness started to creep up my spine as he approached me and made a move to inspect my calf, but I just let him. It's not like I had much choice anyway, nor did I really care at this point. My brain was ready to fully shut down, the stress had practically broken my brain and the adrenaline rush was absolutely gone. I had no energy left.

…..

I don't even remember when I fell asleep. If I fell asleep at my computer desk, I shouldn't be this comfortable either. That was some funky dream; I really should lay off playing League for a while and get back to reality to cure whatever insane things are going through whatever in my head creates dreams. I yawned and stretched, groaning at the pain shooting up my side. I must have slept funny. Sitting up while I rubbed my eyes sleepily, I noticed I was on the couch in the living room with a blanket and a pillow. _When did this happen…? I don't remember inviting over any of my friends for a League party and falling asleep on them…that's the only time this happens since I don't live with anyone…Maybe I'll text Ari later and ask her if she came over at all today…_

What, it's still dark out? I must be getting used to waking up early. The clock on the cable box for the TV said it was around three in the morning. The sun wasn't even close to being up yet.

The cause of whatever woke me up was actually the sound of the really old game system my Pops had in the basement. Maybe I'd been playing it for old time's sake and left it on? How silly of me. I climbed out of bed, groaning at the pain shooting through my body, and limped my way downstairs. One of my legs was tender and I could hardly put any weight on it.

"…" So that wasn't a dream after all. There's the Ezreal cosplayer, playing the video game. And getting a high score from the looks of it. Well it's a cheap knock-off of Pac-Man; it's pretty easy to play once you know how it's done.

"…Darn it! I was almost to level ten…" Ezreal scrunched up his nose and scowled at the game before he realized out of the corner of his eye that I was awake and standing at the foot of the stairs. "Oh, hey! I hope you don't mind that I was playing this! It's a fascinating thing! Did you get this from Piltover? I've never seen anything like it, but the mechanics are easy to figure out."

"…Yeah, you just turn it on using the red button inside of the machine…" Guess he figured out how to turn the game on himself. It's an old arcade console game, and we didn't have the coins for the game, so unlocking the coin slot section and opening the door had a bunch of wires, the coin collection thingamajig and a red button used to turn on the game manually. I didn't really care much for the specifics of the tech, but whatever. It's not that hard to figure out how to press the big and obvious red button.

"Feeling any better?"

"…A little…ugh, sorry I fell asleep on you…it's been a really WEIRD day…"

"No kidding! One minute, I'm with my team trying to contest for Baron Nashor in Summoner's Rift, and the next, I'm here! Wherever here is…from what you were yelling at to Talon, and from the looks of your house, both that stupid Noxian and I have been sent to a completely different plane of existence. The Summoners aren't going to be happy about this…we were in the middle of a fight for a very important dispute, too…"

I think he's actually serious. He doesn't seem too surprised either, but being a cartographer for Piltover, I suppose he's seen a lot of crazy things. "So…do you know if anybody besides you or Talon made it here…?"

"I'm not sure; he's the only other League champion I've run into. I'm glad I got there just in time, he looked about ready to cut you into pieces."

"…Yeah…thanks for that…so, uh, you really are from Valoran…and Piltover…?"

"Yup."

"And the champions are all real…" Talon is scary enough, but some of the other champions…if they were real…that would be absolutely terrifying, especially the junglers who are excellent at sneaking up on innocent noobs not using wards properly…That sent a shiver of terror down my spine.

"Why wouldn't they be real…?"

"Uh, you see…in this world, League of Legends is just a game on my computer…I would show it to you, but for some reason, the game's servers are down…" Could the game actually be real…? Maybe this "maintenance" is actually the Summoners trying to reverse whatever brought the champions from the game here…? Now I'm thinking crazy, it's just a game! But…that Talon…and Ezreal right in front of me…it all just seems too real…and seeing is believing…


	2. The Prodigal Explorer

Chapter 2: The Prodigal Explorer

"I'm not a terrific cook, so I'm sorry if it's not like what you're used to back in Piltover. I'm not even sure what people in Valoran eat…I hope you like it. If not, I can make something else…"

"Are you kidding? This is great!" Ezreal seemed to be really enjoying my lame excuse for cooking as he scarfed down the sloppy omelet I'd made him. For some reason, all the yellow he's wearing, not to mention his blonde hair, had given me a craving for eggs, more specifically, omelets with lots of cheese. So here we are, sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast together. It was really awkward, eating a meal with a fictional video game character.

I was just picking at my meal, absorbed in my thoughts, while he scarfed his food down like he hadn't eaten in days.

I was still in my pajamas that I'd changed into at four in the morning before I went back to sleep. Now that it was light out, I could see the decent bandage job Ezreal did on the wounds Talon had given me in his attack. The sting of the cuts was constantly reminding me the dangers of the other champions being in this world.

_If there really are more…innocent people could get hurt, depending on the champion…some are kind-hearted, so I'm not worried about people like the Demacians, Ionians, or any members of Piltover, except for Jinx…but the Void champions, or Noxians, obviously…Shadow Isle people can be pretty deadly too…oh dear, what if they run into citizens of Zaun! They're absolutely bat shit crazy! Hopefully they don't try any crazy experiments! Look what happened to Warwick…_

"You look really worried. Is something wrong?" Ezreal gave me a confused look. Shouldn't he be worried, too? He is a champion; he knows better than any human here what the others are capable of. They might even have restrictions in the game that they won't have here.

"I'm worried for the people of this world. We don't have such advanced tech like Piltover, or any form of magic at all. I don't know what will happen if more League champions come to this world…people will get hurt…and for the nice ones, I guess you're all missing home right about now. I hope those morons at the Institute of War fix this and reverse whatever they did to send you all here! There are champions out there that are pure evil! I can name ten right off the top of my head! Champions like Cho'Gath, or Elise, don't get me started on Vlad! Twitch is an absolute disaster waiting to happen, and Warwick's insatiable hunger…Kha'Zix and Rengar are going to hunt down all the creatures of this world just to get a new challenge…" The worries just kept piling up. "And don't forget, if opposite factions run into each other here, we'll have an all-out war on our hands! The rules of the League don't apply here. Champions can attack anyone they please without immediate consequence, and they will actually die instead of being revived every single time…"

"Don't worry about it! You're letting me stay here, right?"

"You did save my life from an enraged Talon. It's the least I can do, and I've got plenty of room."

"If any more show up around here and start causing trouble, I'll just beat them up like I always do. You don't have to worry about your life. I'll protect you." He seemed so carefree and honest about the situation, I couldn't help but smile. I guess having this cocky blonde around might be a good thing after all. At least I'll have protection if other champions show up.

"…I'd like to know who was on your team and the enemy team when this happened though, so I can be prepared. I'm not sure if it was just you and Talon, those teams, or all of the champions, I need to know what is going on. I'll just have to pray they stayed in the area."

"Well, our team had me of course; I was taking care of bot lane with Sona."

Sona was my first ever support role, so I practically beamed when he mentioned her. "I know she's with Demacia, so she has to be one of the good champions. Who was mid, top, and jungler?"

"Our middle lane was being taken care of by Annie…"

"She was my first champion that I ever played! I absolutely adore her! She's a little…nutty, but she's adorable."

"Yeah, she can be scary, but she can also be pretty sweet, too, if you're nice to her. If not, well…"

"You get stun-locked with a scary Tibbers frying your ass?"

"Pretty much." Both of us laughed at that.

"Who else?"

"Amumu had the jungle covered, and our top lane was Yasuo."

"So, the enemy team had Talon, obviously…"

"He was being their jungler. Their team consisted of Swain for mid lane…"

"God I hate fighting him as Ahri…"

"Bot lane was Draven, top was Darius, their support was Thresh."

"Well they are all either assholes from Noxus or pretty much unaffiliated but evil as anything. The Thresh hooks…" I did a Mirror Mode: One for All battle as Thresh once. I was amazed I survived a five man Thresh hook. "Let's just hope that it was just you and Talon, then. All of the enemy champions could be dangerous, and the ones on your team are thankfully not that harmful, except Annie of course."

"Either way, there isn't much we can do until the Summoners fix the problem."

"Yeah…I really doubt information on our world will help any, seeing as we have no magic. It appears you can still cast your magic though. I think I saw you using it yesterday when you scared off Talon before I fled."

"Seems like it. That's a good thing. Without my magic, I can't protect that pretty face of yours."

My porcelain face flushed scarlet. "H-Hey! Don't start flirting with me or I'll make you sleep outside!"

"I was just teasing you." He gave me a cocky wink as he stood up from the table. "All right, since I'll be staying with you, Misaki, I'm going to look around the neighborhood a bit. I need to know the area better."

"Do you want me to go with you…?"

"I don't need a guide or a map! I'll be fine!"

"Right, famous explorer from Piltover…" The map thing was also one of his character quotes in the game. "At least you live up to your title. I have to go to work in about two hours, so explore all you want, just be careful, okay?"

"You realize who you're talking to, right?"

"Good point…"

…..

So we split up for the day. By the time I came home from work, Ezreal had discovered how to work the television. He was really fascinated by it, so I left him alone while I changed into a pair of sweats and a regular red tee to get more comfortable and out of that café uniform. Then I went to join him in the living room.

Of course he was watching a classic movie about adventure. One of the newer _Indiana Jones_ movies was on and Ezreal was soaking it up like a sponge. I couldn't help but chuckle at him in amusement as I watched as well. He really does enjoy this kind of stuff.

"Do you like this movie?"

"Yeah! This Indiana Jones character is really smart!"

"This is just a reboot of the early movies about Indiana Jones, and this is the second of the reboots. There's another one, I think it's free On Demand this week…" I snatched the remote from him really quick and showed him how to find it. "Once you're done watching this one, you can watch that one. I think I'll write an email today to Riot. I'm not sure if they'll commit me to an asylum for sending it, but if they know about the game being real and know the Summoners, they need to know where the champions went."

"Email…? What's that?"

"It's a sort of system that we use in this world to send messages over our computers. I have some other friends that play the game, too, so if they come across some of the other champions I can get info from them. I bet you they'll think I'm crazy if I tell them I have Ezreal in my living room watching _Indiana Jones,_ but it couldn't hurt to just ask and see if they've seen any cosplayers in the neighborhood."

"Good plan." I nodded to him and left the room, heading into the office. When I checked the League servers, they were still down, and players were starting to get furious. I sent an email to the administrator of the Riot website and told him the story.

_To whomever this may concern,_

_If you are in contact with the Summoners, you must tell them that their missing champions are now on Earth. So far, I have run into Talon, who tried to kill me the moment he met me, (how he arrived in my backyard I have no idea) and Ezreal is here, too. Talon has run off, I wish I knew where, but I have Ezreal safe at my house. Things are going to turn badly for the League if word of this gets out, and especially if the League champions start hurting innocent people. If I find any other champions that aren't hostile I'll keep them at my house and out of the public eye as much as I can so they won't be recognized, and if they are, I'll pass them off as cosplayers. Tell the Summoners to fix this soon or they are going to have a real mess on their hands!_

_ Sincerely,_

_A concerned League player_

So they wouldn't track me down or anything for being crazy, I made an alternate account that I will never use with an alternate email I use for junk mail and spam that isn't connected to my actual personal email. I just have to hope they won't track me down using my IP address or I'll have to dump my computer.

"Now that that is taken care of…" I made sure to use my smartphone to send messages over Facebook, telling my League player friends that I had seen news reports (totally made up story) about people who would be cosplaying video game characters roaming around neighborhoods and that they were mentally unstable. I made it sound like as if I was warning them, but hopefully if they had any information on the rest of the missing champions, that they would come forth and tell me about it. Hell, if they did I'd make them prove it to me using Skype video chat, and I'd be nice enough to introduce them to Ezreal. It would only make sense that if Ezreal and Talon showed up close to my house, that the rest of the champions, if they made it here, would have landed in generally a close location.

When I was done with all that, I re-joined Ezreal in the living room to watch television with him. He was now on the other movie, and it seems he'd snuck into the kitchen and made himself a baloney sandwich as a movie snack.

"Just don't make a mess, Ezreal. A better choice for a movie snack is popcorn, too."

"…Popcorn…?"

"Jesus, what do you people eat in Piltover?" I shook my head. "I'll go out and buy a box next time I go grocery shopping. Speaking of shopping…" I raised my brow at him. "We may have to go shopping for you for some new clothes. I can't always leave you here alone in case we find other League champions. I'll need your magic power to help me if they're hostile. Any League player will instantly recognize you and think you're a cosplayer. To avoid any of the weirdness, we'll just have to change your outfit so you don't stick out so much. I can't really do much about your face markings, but new clothes will help you to blend in a little better with this society. It's the weekend, so I don't have to work. We can go out shopping tomorrow and you can see a little more of what my world is like."

"Sounds like an adventure!" He had a sparkle to his eyes that I'd been seeing ever since he turned on the television. This guy is definitely an adventure junkie. I kind of find it a little cute.

…..

The next morning, after Ezreal had scarfed down another decently-cooked breakfast, I went back to my computer and checked my email while Ezreal was changing clothes in my grandfather's old room. To make things easier for us when we went out, I was giving him permission to borrow some of my grandfather's clothes. Granted, they might be too big as Pops had a big belly and he was pretty tall, but it was better than having the blonde boy going out dressed like, well, Ezreal.

As I checked the game and the main page using the alternate account, I noticed the administrator had replied to my email.

_Dear concerned League player,_

_Delete this message after reading thoroughly._

_The Summoners have been informed and are working on a way to return the champions back to Runeterra._

_ Riot thanks you for your cooperation in this unfortunate matter…and your discretion._

_ We will inform you of the progress on the solution in due time. Continue to keep Ezreal under your care._

Surprised, I did as I instructed and deleted the message. I figured they would deny the existence of the League blatantly, but I guess they really had no choice but to reply. I'd be polite and keep the secret, but I'm expecting that new River Spirit Nami skin gifted to me for all the trouble this is causing me.

…I'm kidding!  
…Sort of.

WHAT? I REALLY WANT THAT SKIN AND I'M BROKE!

Anyway, I went to go check on Ezreal, as he had just come out of my grandparent's old room. I practically got a Throw-Back Thursday moment thrown right into my face as I looked at him, except Pops had black hair instead of blonde, and he was much older.

Ezreal was dressed in one of his old bowling polo shirts, his jeans with a belt keeping the large waist band around his thin frame, and he was wearing Pop's lucky fishing hat from Bass Pro Shop on his head to cover his obvious trademark messy blonde hair.

I wanted to cry when I saw that hat, but I held it in. Ezreal didn't know the special meaning behind the white cap. I had a matching one that Pops gave to me, and we called them our lucky fishing hats. I never went fishing with him without our lucky hats. I was just going to let it slide this time, though. How could he have known?

"All right, off to Wal-Mart then! I've never shopped for a boy before…this is going to be interesting…" I tried to keep a cheery face as I led him out the front door.

…..

The two of us spent several hours in Wal-Mart, not because finding clothes for him was hard to find, but because we didn't just spend time in the men's clothing department. I had to show him around the entire store because he became interested in the noises from the electronics section. There, I introduced him to today's technology. They had some pretty advanced stuff back in Piltover obviously, much more advanced than ours, but we had our own perks too. Magic obviously helped them to be more advanced than us, but he was fascinated with everyday objects like television, radios, cell phones, he was even playing with a toaster in the kitchenware section. (He liked how it would pop up and surprise you every single time because you never knew when it would pop.) It was like shopping with a five year old. There was a Subway in the Wal-Mart, too, so I got him some lunch while we were there. He really enjoyed his sub.

We returned home with several inexpensive outfits for him to wear so he wouldn't always be wearing the gear he wore in the League. I took the liberty of washing that outfit as soon as we got back. While I was washing laundry, he was helping me with little things like handing me the clothes or carrying the laundry basket for me.

"Something was bothering you today…what's wrong?"

"Hmmm…?"

"Every time you looked at me today you had this look on your face." I think he tried imitating it but failed miserably. He gave up after a moment and gave me a curious look. "What's up?"

"…Well…" Should I really tell him? He's living with me; I guess he'll find out sooner or later from his own inquisitiveness when I'm not home. "Those were my grandfather's clothes. He passed away a few months ago. It reminded me of him. Just one of those déjà vu moments or whatever."

There's that sympathetic look. This is why I don't tell people these things, they always say "I'm so sorry" or "I know what you're going through" things like that."

Ezreal, though, he didn't say anything. He just continued helping me with the laundry, but he had this look on his face like he was thinking. After a few minutes though, he did address me again.

"So, this is your grandfather's house then, if his stuff is here…?"

"Yeah, he gave it to me when he died. I spent quite a bit of my childhood here. Some of his stuff is still here; we're still sorting everything out. At least the clothes have a use before we donate them. I'm keeping that hat you were wearing, though."

"What's special about the hat?"

I told him the story about our lucky fishing hats, and the bright look on his face sank.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have warn it. I didn't know it was that special."

"No worries, Ezreal. Having a hat is useless if you don't use it, you know. I hate wasting things. I don't like throwing useful things away, but giving them to someone who needs them more. Things can have a lot of memories attached to them, but that's all there is to it if you're not using it. You needed it, so I didn't mind at all. Use it whenever you need to. Besides that, it'll be collecting dust on a shelf."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yeah, I don't have a problem with it."

"If you insist…"

…..

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I taught Ezreal about more modern day things and we watched another adventure movie before we went to bed. The next day I spent some time teaching him about computers in case he ever needed to use mine.

"Oh, look! This week's Sunday Morning LoL was posted!"

"What…?"

"Oh, the League of Legend's social media page posts a cartoon about the game every Sunday. Last week was a hilarious one about Leona and Diana fighting, debating on light, when Lux comes in and uses her ultimate against Leona to steal the blue buff and countered their logic scientifically. That was absolutely my favorite! I don't play Diana, but I play the other two."

"You play Lux and Leona?"

"I mostly play supports, but I like playing Lux for mid lane. I think I'm pretty good at aiming her laser. It's more fun than Ashe's arrow. You can see the arrow coming and juke, but the laser is harder to dodge because it fires so fast. I guess you would know, the League of Legends page says you're good friends with her."

"Yeah, we hang out once in a while when we aren't on the Fields of Justice…do you ever play me?"

"I know your abilities; I just haven't played you yet. I haven't had the time to earn enough points to buy you. Wow, that sounds really weird that I'm talking about this to you…no offense, I just usually play female champions and I'm not that great bot lane. You're a great champion, though. I love champions with global ultimates. It's hilarious when the enemy doesn't see it coming and they think they got away!"

"They do get very mad because of that." Ezreal laughed with me.

"I want to get better at league, so far I'm only at Bronze I since I just finished my Provisionals, but I think I can raise my rank if I work hard." He looked so lost, so I had to teach him about the ranked games and the rankings, too. We were interrupted around the time I was finished.

_DING DONG!_

"What was that?!" Ezreal was immediately put on alert, but I stood and laughed at him.

"It's called a doorbell. When somebody is outside your door and wants to come in, you ring the doorbell to get their attention. Knocking is usually nice, but some houses like this are big and if you're in a part of the house where you can't hear it, they might think you're not home and leave. Anyway, I'd better go answer the door. You stay here." I got up and left the room, heading towards the front door. When I opened it, I was greeted by my best friend, Ari. Her full name is Ariadne, but Ari is her nickname for me. The black and red-haired teen wearing dark clothes similar to what I wear was looking at me nervously.

"Oh, hey. You didn't call me saying you were dropping by. What's up?" I gave her a curious look. "Something wrong?"

"Well, I haven't really had time to tell you I was going to drop by, and I kind of need your help with something…"

"…What do you need help with…?" I wonder what this is all about?

"I got your message over Facebook the other day, and yesterday…I ran into this on my way home from work…you're not going to believe this…at all…" She stepped aside so I could see the pint-sized human being standing behind her.

My eyes practically bugged out of my head. "Wait…is that who I think it is…?" _Ezreal and Talon didn't come alone…there are actually other champions here…!_


	3. The Dark Child and the Eternal Nightmare

Chapter 3: The Dark Child and the Eternal Nightmare

Ari had to leave in a hurry for work and school-related activities, so she practically dumped her on my lap. She'd been hiding the child mage prodigy in her room, but she couldn't keep her cooped up forever. To Ari's surprise, I introduced her to Ezreal, so she understood quickly why I wasn't entirely surprised that she had been housing a League champion. Now, I had the scariest child in Valoran sitting in my living room with Ezreal talking to her and explaining the situation as best he could to her without making it sound overly complicated. I was busy making us lunch. She'd spent the night with us and Ezreal was keeping her entertained while I was doing chores.

Good thing she was well-behaved or I'd be terrified of her burning the house down. I'd already told Ezreal to make sure that she knows that Tibbers is not to be summoned in the house because of his flaming aura. He could only be summoned outside, out of everyone's view, and NOT ON DRY GRASS.

"I've got lunch ready everyone!" In came Ezreal with Annie following close behind, Tibbers in her hand. I'm used to dealing with kids, but I wasn't so sure how to treat a child that could possibly burn down a neighborhood with a single temper tantrum. Hopefully we could avoid a flaming disaster and a very pissed off Tibbers by keeping her entertained and happy. I'd made simple sandwiches with chips, and I'd made sure to cut the crust off for Annie as well as cut the sandwich into the face of a bear for her amusement.

"Thanks, I'm hungry." Ezreal sat down in the seat across from mine and I pulled a chair in from my office for Annie to sit in. My computer chair could be raised up and down, so we didn't need a special seat for her. Even for her age, she's almost as small as a Yordle. "So, Annie, have you run into any of the other champions?"

"No, not yet." Annie cutely shook her head as she picked up her sandwich and showed it to Tibbers. "Look, it looks like you, Tibbers!" She giggled and took a small bite out of the food. "Yum!"

"Now where are your manners? What do you say, Annie?" Ezreal gave her a scolding look. I guess everybody at the League still taught her how to behave, even without the supervision of her parents.

"Thank you, Mi…Mis…" She was obviously having trouble saying such a long name.

"Ari calls me Saki. It's a silly nickname she gave me years ago. You can call me that if it's easier for you."

"Okay!" Satisfied, she returned to eating her sandwich and humming a tune unknown to me.

After the meal, I brought both of the champions into the backyard. Curiosity killed the cat, so they say, but I just HAD to ask Annie this little favor. Being the first champion I ever played, Annie always had a special place in my heart.

"…Annie, can I ask you a favor?"

"Hmmm?" There it is, that cute curious look.

"As long as he doesn't burn up the place…could you summon Tibbers? I want to see him in person!" I was practically acting like a fan girl, but I HAD to ask her this one little thing.

The child mage's smile was huge as she gave Tibbers a light squeeze. "Okay! Now, Tibbers, you gotta be nice! NO fire, okay?" She scolded the bear before she tossed him in the air. When the soft plush teddy bear landed on the ground, BOOM! There was a burst of flames, and there stood Tibbers, the fearsome shadow bear that everybody ran from at the first sight of him every time he appeared on the Fields of Justice.

"Hi, Tibbers!" Annie smiled at the large bear and held her arms out. The bear picked her up and put her on his shoulders. Oh my gosh, it was SO CUTE! I smiled at the pair. With a child as cute as Annie, it's no wonder she managed to charm him at a young age.

"Nice to meet you in person, Tibbers. You're much taller than I thought you would be." He was at least a foot taller than Ezreal, and Ezreal was about a foot taller than me, so he was pretty darn big. "Ezreal told you about the League being a game in my world, right? Well, I thought you and Tibbers were so cool, I played as you first. Sorry I asked for this favor, I just wanted to see him for real."

"Really!? You're so cool!" Annie giggled and patted Tibbers on the head. "Time to go now, Tibbers!" The bear made sure to put Annie down on the concrete again before he turned back into a bear and the little girl picked him back up.

"Thanks, Annie. I hope we don't run into any mean champions and have to use him." _Though that would be freaking AWESOME! _"Well, it's Sunday and I'm still off of work, so I guess I'm going to have to go out again and buy Annie some new clothes. She's easy to recognize too. The pink hair and the teddy bear pretty much give it away."

"More shopping? All right! Can we get one of those candy bar things again?"

"Candy…?"

Oh dear, maybe it isn't such a good idea to introduce Annie to candy…

…..

After taking the girl shopping, and carefully watching her sugar intake as we gave her chocolate, (she wasn't that hyper afterwards, actually) we went back home. We had to turn on age appropriate TV for Annie, even though she didn't completely have the mentality of a child her age, so I taught Ezreal how to play Go Fish with my Pops' cards at the kitchen table.

"You guys have very different cards than the ones we have back in Valoran…"

"Used to Twisted Fate's cards?"

"He always wins!"

"That's because he's practically a master at gambling and cards."

"Do you have any…what's this one again? It kind of looks like Shaco…"

"Ezreal, that's the joker card, I forgot to take it out of the deck. You don't play with that one…" I took the card from his hand and put it back in the box. "All right, it's still your turn."

"How about a ten?"

"Nope, go fish."

"Darn it…"

"You got any Kings?"

"What's that one look like again?"

I showed him the King I had in my deck. "This one."

"Darn it, I have that one. Here."

"That's another matching set for me!" I was easily winning the game.

"Are you cheating?"

"Of course not. I don't cheat like Twisted Fate does. I wouldn't ever play poker with that guy. Looks like we're both out of cards now. Let's see…I win. You only made four matching pairs while I made the rest. Don't worry, you'll get better at it. It's mostly a game of luck, though. Depends on what you get and what the other player gets. Also remembering their cards and what they ask for helps. There's a bunch of other games with complicated rules, so I thought this would be a good one to start with. My Pops loved this game, but my Dad played poker instead. I'm not too bad at it. I guess its genetics."

"So cards seem to be a big thing with your family."

"Well, they were."

"Do you still play cards with your Dad…?"

"I can't anymore. I lost him a month ago." Suddenly, I didn't feel like playing cards anymore. Mom said that my father's death would be easier on me, since I didn't move in with him and get to know him until I was fifteen, but she was absolutely wrong. Pop's passing was inevitable. I was ready for it. Dad, I wasn't ready for it. There was so much left unsaid, so much we didn't get to do, so many promises unable to be fulfilled, so many things I wanted him to see…he was gone, just like that. Things were odd between us when he died, so I had so many regrets, and I was such a mess for the longest time before and after the funeral.

I put my cards down and started collecting all of them to put them away. "I've got some more chores to do, you can keep playing or go play in the living room with Annie."

"Misaki…"

Before he could say anything, I left the kitchen and headed downstairs to finish up the laundry I had been working on this morning. I didn't want them to see the clear liquid running down my cheeks. These days, it doesn't take much to make me cry. A simple picture, a gentle song, anything can set me off. Even worse, nobody ever notices when I do it in public, I hold it back so much. Sometimes, I secretly wish they would notice how much I'm suffering.

The feeling of being alone is…unbearable…

…..

I didn't talk to Annie or Ezreal for the rest of the day. I spent it keeping myself busy, doing chores or searching the web for any unusual news that could help me find the rest of the champions. I also checked my email, and it seems that Riot had sent me a message back.

_ Delete this message after thoroughly reading it._

_ Thank you for your cooperation thus far. The Summoners have indicated that indeed all of the champions are missing. Your message has been passed along. With this, the Summoners have requested the help of players who have taken non-hostile champions into their home. With all of them scattered, it will take too much time to locate every single champion and return them before things get nasty. Ezreal and whoever else that comes under your roof will be the last priority targets to send back to Valoran. Monday morning a package will be mailed to you. Our team and the Summoners request using the item crafted for sending the hostile champions back to the League as you come across them. Talon will most likely come back to your location sooner or later with one of his enemies under your roof. If you come across any other hostile champions, please use it on them as well. Use Ezreal and other friendly champions to help you defeat them so they can be sent back without too much of a struggle. Another message will be sent to you once it is time to send him and any other remaining champions back. This item is for your use only. Champions from Valoran cannot use this item._

_ The Summoners are currently investigating as to why and how the champions have come to this realm. Messages will continue on updates of the information they gather._

"So…they're sending me an item, like from the game? At least I can send back the ones that are going to hurt people when I run into them. Guess I'm not the only League player that has come across them. Maybe they landed near League players in general…? Weird coincidence…the incident must have something to do with the players that play the game…" Either way, I sent them a message back, saying I would help, and I told them that I had Annie under my roof as well. How they got my address, though, that was kind of creepy.

A knock on the door of the office alerted me to someone's presence standing in the doorway. "Hey, Misaki, this box thing was at the front door. Somebody left it here. Is it mail?"

"It is, Ezreal. I was expecting the package. I got another message back from the League. As a matter of fact, I was just reading it. Arrived Monday morning, just like they said." I started opening the package. "Do you…mind if you stay here a little longer? The Summoners can't bring everybody back because they're so scattered, it would take too long, so somehow the administrator is sending us an item from the Summoners that will help send the champions back to Valoran. Though, the Summoners want a few champions to stay while the players here use the item to take care of the violent champions. We need all the help we can get, and obviously we can't defend ourselves against champions."

"Why not send us the items instead of bringing innocent people into this…?" The explorer had an inquisitive look on his face as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Apparently, champions can't use it." I managed to open the box and inside was a silver bracelet with a gorgeous dark red crystal embedded in it. "Is there an instruction manual…ah, here we go, this slip of paper here…"

_Wear this bracelet. Touch the hostile champion to send it home._

"So, I just got to touch them with my hand while I'm wearing it…? Seems simple enough." I put the bracelet on my left wrist. "Okay, so, if we find any harmful champions, we send them home with this."

"I'd better go tell Annie…when she's done watching her show, of course." Ezreal seemed to be avoiding a conversation with me, as he ducked out of the room quickly.

Hey, wait, Ezreal."

"…Yeah…?"

"If you and Annie really want to go home, I can send you back now…"

"You're going to need our help if you plan on finding them and sending them back." The face that had been gloomy all day brightened up a bit. "I kind of owe you one for letting us stay here, and helping me to find Annie."

"I owe you like three for saving my hide and helping me care for her. I don't know how to handle a kid like her." I laughed at him. "…And sorry about yesterday. It's just…a sensitive topic right now."

"I get it." The blonde marksman nodded to me. "Don't worry, we'll send them all back in no time."

…But did I really want them to leave…?

Who am I kidding? They NEED to go home. They have friends and family there, they don't belong here at all. They upset the natural order of things. They would never fit in here. Even if they tried, they might die trying once everyone finds out what they are capable of.

I need to get ready for work before I start looking into these things too much.

…..

After an eight hour work shift, I got home to find Annie, asleep in my bedroom in the single bed there, and Ezreal was sleeping in my grandfather's room on the King size bed. There was another in my Dad's old room in the basement, which is where I'd been sleeping since Annie had arrived two days ago. I was careful not to wake up Annie as I grabbed some clothes from my closet to change out of the white blouse and black dress pants and into a pajama top and bottom with My Little Pony characters all over them. (Shut up, Rainbow Dash is the only reason I love the show.)

I was so exhausted, I flopped onto my bed, buried my face in the pillow, and closed my eyes, trying to force myself to sleep. After such a long day, I was SO ready for bed, but sleep was hard to come by, and it was very restless. When I finally fell asleep, a dream came to me, and it wasn't pleasant at all.

"_Who are you?!"_

"_I sense fear…"_

_ "I know you're there! Show yourself!" Darkness, so much darkness…I have this strange feeling that something bad is about to happen…like I know what this is coming to…_

_ "Drip drop…the sound of blood…"_

_ "Come out and show me your face!" This sounds like…_

_ "Do I scare you, Summoner?" Out of the darkness, I saw a familiar face slither into view._

_ "…Nocturne…!" His lore said that Nocturne hunted Summoners of the League in their dreams, so they punished him by binding him to a nexus fragment. Here, he did not have his restrictions. Here, he could kill indiscriminately._

_ "B-But I'm not a real Summoner! I don't have magic powers!"_

_ "…Embrace the darkness, Summoner…"_

_ "Help! Ezreal! It's Nocturne! He's here! Annie! Anybody?!"_

_ "Help is not coming…" I shrieked in terror as Nocturne came for me, darting right towards me with a blinding speed._

Suddenly, I was awake and climbing out of bed, running. The more logical part of my mind was trying to tell me that Nocturne had used his E, Unspeakable Horror on me, to cause me to have a nightmare and become afraid, but my body didn't care. It was screaming to run, so I ran out from the bedroom, through the laundry room, right into the entrance room of the basement. The stairs were right there, all I had to do was go upstairs and wake up the others…

But I couldn't see anything. Everything just got harder to see, even with my poor sight in the dark. _He's using his ultimate, Paranoia! _He'd reduced my ability to see, and any second now, he'd be dashing for me to land the killing blow. I'd never see him coming. Panic was welling up in me. I felt a slight breeze behind me and screamed in terror as I turned to see Nocturne's face coming out of the darkness again, his Umbra Blades ready to cut me into pieces. I collapsed to the ground, landing on my butt, waiting for the end to come.

**BOOM!**

A bright light whizzed through the darkness and smashed into Nocturne's face just as he went in for the kill. He turned, rearing his dark head in the direction it came from. Little Annie, dressed in her pink leopard print pajamas, was glaring at Nocturne with a look only described as pure hate. She had a fireball in one hand and Tibbers in the other. Because of her flame, I could see she was at the bottom of the stairs. It looks like she had just stunned him with her Pyromania passive and popped her Q, Disintegrate, right on him.

Then an angry Ezreal did his Arcane Shift with the lock on attack hitting the Eternal Nightmare, landing himself right in front of Annie with that teleport, and fired his Mystic Shot Q before he fired the W, Essence Flux, at Nocturne. This gave Annie an attack speed boost, so she popped him several times in the face with a few auto-attack fireballs. This pushed Nocturne back against the glass door that led to the patio. With every hit, he was smacked back farther and farther, causing the fury to well up in his eyes. The stun had practically ended the fight before it even begun, like in a real league match. With a final hit from Ezreal's ultimate, Trueshot Barrage, Nocturne was knocked down for the count. That's what happens when you mess with mages.

Ezreal was at my side in an instant, pulling me to my feet by grabbing onto my shoulders and pulling me up. "Are you okay?!"

I probably looked a wreck. I was shivering with fright and I couldn't take my eyes off of Nocturne. "That damned thing is a monster…" I'm going to have nightmares of him for the next twenty years.

Annie skipped over to Nocturne and frowned. "You're such a bully, Nocturne!"

"He's not going to hurt you anymore, okay? If he tries, Annie will just sic Tibbers on him." The blonde explorer rubbed my back soothingly. "Let's send him back before he causes anymore trouble."

I nodded nervously, but I clutched onto one of Ezreal's arms. I'd be safe if he and Annie were with me. It took everything I had to not run away, but I strengthened my resolve. _If he really can affect people in their nightmares, how many nights has he spent killing people in their sleep…? I was one of the lucky people to wake up before he killed __**me**__ in my sleep…I guess it pays to be a light sleeper…I have to send him back before he kills anyone else!_

With a shaking hand outstretched, I touched Nocturne's arm. The creature twitched about, being roused from unconscious, and glared at me, but a second later, a bright light enveloped him, and then he was gone.

"One down, and over a hundred more to go…" I was still clinging to Ezreal for dear life, even though Nocturne was safely returned to Runeterra, and probably getting punished by the Summoners of the Institute of War.

"…You should head back to bed…" Now that Paranoia was no longer affecting me, I could see everything better, including the worried look that was etched onto Ezreal's face.

"…I don't think I could sleep after all that…" I don't want to see his face in my nightmares again. I don't want to go to sleep ever again after that hellish experience.

Ezreal just sighed at me. "Come on, let's go upstairs and get you something to eat, maybe that'll make you feel better…"

Annie grinned and started heading up the steps to the main floor first, skipping and humming all the way. Even after facing Nocturne, she remained fearless. Ezreal seemed fine too, besides worrying about me. The longer I get to know these champions, the more awed I am by them. Here I am, a shivering wreck, and these two don't look affected at all, besides annoyed that their sleep was interrupted because they had to go kick Nocturne's ass. And now they have me to take care of, like I'm the child out of all three of us.

I guess that's what happens to people when they can be in the Rift, dying over and over again without worrying that they'll ever die for real. Battling out their conflicts without casualties…I wish our world could be more like Valoran and the League of Legends.

Maybe people would die less if we had a system like that in our world to solve political conflict, but no such magic exists here. I wish we did, though. So many battles, so much death, so much loss could have been avoided if that were the case.


	4. The Voidreaver and the Pridestalker

Chapter 4: The Voidreaver and the Pridestalker

I was exhausted the next morning. I didn't sleep at all the rest of the night except for a light nap I took for an hour until the sun rose. I wanted to call out of work so badly so I could just stay home and sleep, but then I'd get in trouble with my boss if she ever found out. So, after serving my guests breakfast, I went to work once again. It wasn't a fabulous day because of grumpy customers, but it wasn't terribly agonizing either. Work was getting less painful with the wounds I got from Talon healing up nicely, but still, I was exhausted and so ready to go home and take a nice long nap. I vowed to never sleep again thanks to Nocturne last night, but I really need my sleep. Besides, he was back in Valoran, my dreams were safe now.

I assumed it was going to be an uneventful walk back to my house since I had no news of any odd happenings in my area, but I was wrong. In one of the wooded areas that I passed by on my usual trek while I was close to my house, I heard the sound of an animal screeching in terror and agony. The first thought on my mind is that some innocent animal was being attacked by a dog or a cat or something. Being the animal lover at I am, I went to investigate, trudging carefully through the thick grove of thin trees and shrubbery, but what I found was more menacing than I anticipated.

My scrawny and very much human self was standing before Kha'Zix himself, the mighty Voidreaver, constantly killing to evolve himself into a more powerful being. This Void creature was one of the assassin champions that I loved to hate. The beast had set himself upon a defenseless raccoon and eaten it. I'd gotten there much too late to save the poor creature, and now the purple bug-like monster had his head turned towards me. Oh boy. This was not going to be good.

Now was one of those times that I wished I'd taught Ezreal how to use the house phone so I could call him for help. I turned tail and ran back towards the cul-de-sac, but Kha'Zix was five steps ahead of me. Well, actually, it was more like a Leap, his E. It seemed that the purple bug had evolved his wings by now (what evolution stage he was at, I didn't know, too busy running for my life to really pay attention) because his leap was massive. The monster landed right on top of me so I was pinned down on my belly. He was standing on my back, ready to chomp my head off.

_Oh crap! If I survive this, I'll never make fun of Kha'Zix ever again when I pick him off easily in team fights!_

**"ROAAAAR!"**

Thank freaking Averosa! That was definitely the sound of Rengar's W, Battle Roar. He used his ultimate ability, The Thrill of the Hunt, to leap out of a nearby bush and attack Kha'Zix with the ferocity of a pack of lions thanks to Savagery, his Q, which gave him a stronger attack. The Pridestalker was not going to let him get away so easily.

Now that I was safely out of harm's way with only a few scratches from the fall and Kha'Zix's scythes, I watched as the two battled it out, scythe and claw. While the bug was distracted, I charged in like a reckless idiot and put my hand on him. Instantly he was engulfed in light and vanished, headed back to where he came from, but not before he turned on me in rage and skewered my left forearm with one of his scythes, using his Q, Taste Their Fear. That slice hurt a lot. If Rengar wasn't around (I hope he was counted as my ally, at least) I would have probably lost that arm.

Of course, Rengar wasn't too happy about me sending his prey away, out of his clutches. A roar came from the ferocious feline's mouth as he reared his head on me, his single eye glaring at me with hate, rage, and frustration all mixed into one.

"What did you do?! That was MY prey! Where did you send it?!" The rumbly voice of the one-eyed cat was practically boiling in rage.

"I know how much you want to kill him and mount his head on your wall, Rengar, but Kha'Zix had to be sent back. If the fight ended in a tie like it did the first time you two faced off, he'd just heal and start killing people here to become stronger, since he's on a different world with beasts unlike anything you could find on Runeterra. You guys AREN'T on Runeterra, I know that's why you wanted to kill him here and now, since there are no rules holding you back, but I couldn't take that chance. You'll probably want to chase him, so I'm going to send you back, too. I understand how much you want revenge for your lost eye, but you can't do it here. Not where us helpless and non-magic wielding humans can do anything to defend ourselves if a large fight were to break out. Kill him on your own world, not in ours where we'll just get in your way."

"…You know much of me, human. Are you a Summoner?"

"Hah, I wish. I'm just a friend helping the champions get home. Now, do you want to go home or not?"

"…I shall return."

"Before you go, thanks for saving my hide back there. I know you were probably just using me as a distraction for a surprise attack to finish him off, but still, I appreciate it." I'd always adored Rengar, just because he was a cat, and wondered what it would feel like to pat him on the head. So, just because he couldn't kill me later for it, I rubbed the top of his head. I had to stand on my tippy toes to reach, but I managed it. He seemed agitated, but he couldn't react to it, as he was being surrounded in the bright light and sent back to the League.

"…That's another two down…" I clutched my bleeding arm as I headed back towards my grandfather's house. I went through the door at the driveway that led into the basement instead of the front door so I wouldn't stain the carpet with my arm dripping a lot of blood. It hurt like a bitch and stung like hell. Let's hope Kha'Zix didn't evolve past the abilities he had in the game and didn't develop anything like poisons, acids, or crippling diseases in his scythes. Knowing Kha'Zix, he just might one day.

"Hey, guys! I'm home! Ezreal, I need your help for a second!"

"Misaki, why'd you come in through this do-…What happened?!"

"I ran into a giant purple bug and an angry white cat with a hunting obsession."

"Let me get the first aid kit!" He Arcane Shifted his butt out of there and came back with the box. "I'll get it bandaged up quickly. Just sit tight." He must have gotten a lot of practice in the League bandaging himself or other people. He set upon me almost instantly, pulling the sleeve of my work shirt up and examining the gash before he started disinfecting and bandaging it. "I should have been there to protect you…"

"You can't follow everywhere I go, Ezreal, and besides, I'm fine. Rengar showed up just in the nick of time. Granted, he was only there to kill Kha'Zix, but still, he managed to distract him long enough for me to send him back. That's when he cut me. I sent Rengar back, too, so both of them can duke it out in the League and not here where innocent bystanders are going to get hurt. I'm just going to have to give you lessons on how to work the phone if I need you while I'm out or if either of you two needs me while I'm away."

"…I just don't like it that the Summoners are asking you to put yourself at risk to send us home…"

"It's no big deal. I mean, I've got nothing more important to do with my life. I'd be unhappy too if I was sent to a world that I knew nothing about. I'm just trying to help out. Ouch, that's a little tight, Ez! Could you loosen that a bit?"

He looked at me funny for calling him by the short nickname players used for him in the game, but he didn't say anything as he was focused on his work. "Anyway, thanks for bandaging me up. I need to go send a message to the League and fill them in. Keep Annie occupied until I can finish and make us dinner, okay?"

"All right…"

So I went to the old office and checked my messages. No messages had been sent back to me yet, so I sent them a message informing them about Nocturne, Kha'Zix and Rengar, of course informing them about the misdeeds of the first two. Hopefully the Summoners would exact punishment on them for their wrongdoings.

Now that that was taken care of, it was time for dinner! Today I surprised the pair with a stir fry meal. Annie didn't really care for some of the vegetables I'd put in it, but that's a typical kids thing. Ezreal practically inhaled his meal. Man, that guy can eat. Anyway, after that, we went into the living room and watched a kid's movie, to Annie's delight. I personally like this movie, but it looked like Annie and Ezreal were glaring daggers at one of the leading ladies when they discovered what she was capable of.

"She reminds me of Lissandra…"

"My friend Tibbers wants to meet her…" There's that scary face Annie makes when she gets evil ideas!

"Guys, it's just a cartoon, Elsa is not real. I know she's like Lissandra because of her powers, but she's a nice girl, not an evil queen of the Watchers. You'll see in the end."

"She attacked her own sister!"

"By accident! Sheesh!" These two really didn't get the concept of _Frozen_ until the end of the movie. They had cooled down by then, Annie in a more literal sense than Ezreal. _Okay, so that wasn't the best choice of movies to watch with League champions that don't particularly like the Watchers and DEFINITELY ones that hate Lissandra. Note to self, if I run into any of the good guys from the Freljord, like Ashe, don't show them this movie._

I was busy on the couch with Annie in my lap, brushing her hair and pulling the pretty pink locks into a pair of pigtails with pretty white ribbons. "You have such gorgeous hair! I'm not big on the color pink, but it looks good on you." I replaced her pink cat ears headband on her head, and boy, did she look adorable.

"Can you put a bow on Tibbers? Pleaaase?" I couldn't refuse her with the face she was making at me. Darn the puppy eyes.

"Of course I can." I had another spare ribbon, so I tied it around Tibbers' neck, VERY carefully. "There you go. I think he looks quite handsome now."

Ezreal turned and laughed at me. "Well that's surprising. She never lets anybody else touch Tibbers."

"Saki's really nice! Tibbers likes her too! Right, Tibbers?" She snuggled the stuffed bear and looked up at me. "Thank you!"

"It was my pleasure. You look even ten times cuter than before!" I smiled at her. I didn't mind doing her hair. As far as I knew, besides Amumu, she was the only child in the League, and I had the sneaky suspicion her parents weren't there to look after her while she worked at the Institute of War. Little girls, even Annie, love it when another person takes care of their hair, particularly big sisters or mothers. "All right, it's time to get ready for bed."

"Already…?"

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late. Come on, up you get. Need any help with your pajamas?"

"No, I can do it myself!" She gave me a stubborn look and crossed her arms over her chest.

"All right, how about a bedtime story?"

"Momma told me all sorts of stories, I know them all!"

"Well, do you know the story about Cinderella?"

"…No…"

"Okay then, get your pajamas on and I'll tell you the story before you go to bed."

"Yay!" The cute little girl hopped off of the couch and ran into my room ten times faster than the computer version of Annie could in the game.

"For a natural born pyromancer, she's cute as a button. You get ready for bed, too, Ez, I've got another long day tomorrow and YOU'RE going to be stuck Annie-sitting."

"All right." The blonde mage sighed and got out of his chair, making sure to flip off the television before he retreated to my grandfather's room.

"Could you take care of the laundry as well while I'm gone tomorrow? I'm sorry I didn't have money to buy you guys more clothes so we wouldn't have to wash them so often…I showed you how to work the machines, right? Want me to go over it again before you head to bed?"

"No, I've got it. I'll make sure it gets done."

"Thanks, you're a big help."

"Don't mention it…" He gave me a sheepish look and scratched the back of his head as he ducked into the bedroom and closed the door. I only shook my head and laughed at him.

"Night, Ezreal."

"Saki! I'm ready!"

"Okay, I'm coming, Annie. Hold your teddy bears."

"I'm always holding Tibbers!"

"…I'll have to teach her what that expression means…heck, maybe when she goes home, it'll become a sensation in Valoran." I laughed to myself as I entered the bedroom and closed the door behind me.

…..

The sound of clacking noises woke me up pretty late in the night. What was that sound again…? I know I'd heard it before somewhere…being in a new world, you have to get used to the new noises. Oh, wait, isn't that the sound of Misaki's computer? Who would be on it at this hour? It definitely wasn't me or Annie, so maybe she was still awake.

I climbed out of bed and checked the office. Sure enough, the dark-haired girl, in her pajamas, was typing away on the…what did she call it again? Right, a keyboard. I flicked the lights on and she jumped in surprise, turning around to face me.

"Jesus, Ezreal, don't sneak up on me like that!" Her eyebrows knitted together and her lips pursed, turning the surprised look into one of irritation.

"Who is this Jesus you keep swearing to? And why are you still up?"

"I'll explain Christianity to you another time. Why are YOU up? Oh, did I wake you…? I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd do some research." She pointed to the bright screen that she had been staring at.

"…Hmmm…Is that the game…?" I thought it was supposed to be down while we were still trapped on this world.

"Yeah, it is. I decided to check on it again, and noticed they put the servers back up. It seems that quite a bit of the champions have returned, at least enough for players to go back to playing. They're using the excuse that a huge bug had been planted in the system by an unknown rival gaming company and that a lot of the champions still need to be fixed. Apparently, every time we send back a champion, they're going to be re-enabled in the game. I've been studying up on the champions that are still in this world. Some of them I've tried out and I know about them, but others, I have no idea what they are capable of."

Misaki was pointing at the list of all of the champions that were available to play. Some were grayed out, others were colored in, and the some of the colored ones had a blue circle with a funny mark in the corner. I could identify every single one of the champions on the list.

"Looks like about twenty or so of the over one hundred champions have been returned already, most of them from the Void or Zaun. Thank goodness somebody found Twitch and sent him back! I'd hate to tangle with him. His poisons are…deadly…" She shivered, like some unpleasant memory had creeped into her mind.

"He's rather odd, too."

"I'm kind of happy that I don't see Lulu on the list. She's a little nutty but I would LOVE to meet her! She's one of my main support roles, besides Nami." Misaki went back to tapping her fingers on the keys and her bleary-eyed gaze returned to the screen. "I'm still not done my research, though. I HAVE to know what these guys are capable of if we run into any of them." She went back to the list of disabled champions and returned to her studying, but I could see how tired she was.

"You really should get some sleep. Don't you have work tomorrow?"

"Nope, it's the weekend, starting tomorrow. I'll be able to sleep in, though I'll try not to. I don't want either of you burning down the house in an attempt to make yourselves breakfast. Surprisingly, I see you doing that more than I see Annie doing that." She laughed to herself a bit as she brought up the page about Darius. "He scares me the most with that killer ultimate and his ruthless behavior. Hmmm…" Her face was practically two inches from the screen as she focused on her studies. That couldn't be healthy.

"Are you having trouble reading the words or something? Your face shouldn't be that close to a bright screen, especially if you've been doing it in the dark."

"I'll be fine, I'm almost done. You go back to bed." She stifled a yawn and rubbed one of her eyes. "Okay, so it says here…ouch, that looks painful…" There were even little video clips of the champions performing the abilities listed. "Okay, so definitely avoid that axe at all costs….his passive is nasty…I hope to never get into a fight with that guy…Now I see why a lot of league players hate him…"

Well, if she wasn't going to go to bed, I wasn't going to, either. "So, the game is up and running, right? How do you play?"

"Should be the same concept as when you fight for the League. The Summoners send you guys on a map to represent them, and you fight for political disputes. For the game, though, it's just a bunch of nerds taking control of characters and fighting for the hell of it. We don't actually use real magic. Want me to show you?"

"All right."

"I'll play against AI, not actual players, so you'll get an idea. Obviously, I'm going on the Summoner's Rift map, too." She clicked the big red button at the top of the screen and signed herself up for the match. When the screen popped up, she hurriedly typed something into a box and clicked on a champion.

"You're playing Janna?"

"I feel like harassing people with her Q. I'm playing support role, but I like using her Q to protect my ADC while they farm."

"...I have no idea what you just said…"

"ADC means Attack Damage Carry. They build straight attack damage items and are really strong late game. The support role is there to keep them alive and to let them kill minions safely so they can level up, get stronger, and get enough gold to buy more gear."

"I knew what the role was for, we even know the short version of which lane is which. I just didn't know what ADC meant…"

When the match started, I noticed that the box with Janna on it looked nothing like Janna.

"That isn't Janna…" Her skin and hair were blue!

"Oh, right, that's Frost Queen Janna. Players are also able to buy what the game calls "skins" for champions. It just gives them a new look, changes up the visual effects of abilities, so on and so forth. Depending on how popular they are, they can get pretty pricey, especially Legendary Skins. You've got a lot of nice skins, Frost Ezreal is my favorite. Not too crazy about Pulsefire Ezreal…that's your Legendary Skin, by the way."

"…It's just for looks?"

"Yeah. I'm kind of picky about the ones I get, and I only get them for champions I play frequently. I'll have to show you the skins they made for you sometime. There are Champion Skin Spotlights on YouTube so you can even see what they look like in the game." The game started, and "Janna" bought a few items from the shopkeeper before heading down bot lane.

"Looks like my ADC this time is Vayne…I tried her once, I'm not very good at her. You have to hit that E just right and knock your enemy into something or another enemy champion to do extra damage. Skill shots aren't my strong suit, which is why I haven't tried to play you yet."

She played Janna very well, keeping her ADC alive the entire match while the enemy team just kept dying to Vayne. Misaki described that as "feeding", making bad decisions that got you killed until the enemy became so strong, they were nearly impossible to defeat. They won that match in less than twenty minutes.

Misaki played one more, this time playing Lux. She knew just when to use her ultimate in combination with her snare to completely annihilate Veigar in middle lane.

"Haven't played as Lux for a while. Not many people do these days because she has no sustain, but she's got tons of CC, crowd control, to make up for it." That match was won in only fifteen minutes because the rest of her teammates knew what they were doing.

"Well, that was fun…kind of weird, playing League now…"

"You're good at it."

"Those were only AI, computer controlled champions, those bots were nothing compared to real players…" It had to be nearly three or four in the morning by now. I'd only been up with her for about an hour, so I wasn't too tired myself. She was still stifling a lot of yawns. I could see that she was practically nodding off in her chair while she was trying to talk to me.

"All right, its bed time for you." She was too out of it to protest when I heaved her out of the chair and carried her out of the office. Instead of walking downstairs in the dark, I just Arcane Shifted to the bottom and went straight for the bedroom she had been sleeping in since Annie arrived.

It was kind of silly, tucking her into bed like a child, so I was laughing at her while I did so. She'd fallen asleep completely on the way downstairs, so I tried to be as quiet as possible and left quickly. It was time for me to go back to bed, too.

I'd let her sleep in and I would take care of breakfast tomorrow. How hard could cooking be on this world?


	5. The Burning Vengeance

Chapter 5: The Burning Vengeance

The smell of something burning woke me up the next morning. Wrinkling my nose, I sat up and glanced over at the clock by force of habit. The digital cat clock on the nightstand claimed it was around ten in the morning.

TEN?! I OVERSLEPT!

_What's that smell…?_ _Oh dear…please don't tell me…! _I leapt out of bed and ran upstairs as fast as my feet could carry me.

My fears were quickly confirmed. That burning smell was Ezreal's attempt at cooking breakfast by himself, with no instruction on how the stove worked. Whatever had been in the frying pan was a lump of black inedible whatever-the-Hell-it-was and blacker than black toast had just popped out of the toaster. Smoke was rising from all of the burnt food and Ezreal was trying to open the small window above the sink to clear the smell out while Annie was giggling at the blonde mage. It looks like she had been sitting at the table, patiently waiting for breakfast, while Ezreal nearly burned down the entire kitchen.

_I JUST told him last night to not try to cook anything for breakfast…GOD DAMN IT!_

"I told you to wait for Saki! She's going to be really mad when she gets up and sees what you did!"

"I thought it would be easy, but this is much harder than I thought…" Ezreal was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head while his attention was on the giggling pink-haired kid.

"Ahem."

The pair just noticed me as I stood in the doorway, arms crossed and foot tapping on the floor impatiently.

"…I think you're in trouble, Ezreal!"

"I'm sorry…I was just…"

"Yeah, and now you've made a mess that I have to clean up." I sighed irritably at him as I gently pushed him aside. Everything he ruined went into the trash and the used dishes into the sink for a good hard scrubbing later with all of the burnt crap stuck to it. "Great…next time, MAKE CEREAL." I pulled the cereal box out of the cabinet and some milk from the fridge. "Put these both in a bowl. Add a spoon. Instant breakfast. No more cooking for you! Why didn't you just wake me up if you were that hungry?! Never mind, I need to get ready…"

Shaking my head, I left the room. "I've got somewhere to be today, all right? You two can do whatever today. Annie, MAKE SURE EZREAL DOESN'T TRY COOKING AGAIN!"

"Okay, Saki!" Annie giggled at the frowning cartographer as he watched me leave to go change clothes and get ready to go out.

Today, I picked my favorite outfit to wear: a red tank top with crisscrossing straps across my chest, letting my tattoo of three red hearts with a few fancy swirls between them peek out a little bit from the hem and the faint leopard print giving the top a bit of flair, nice black jeans, black leather knee-high boots with some red accents, my loose red short-sleeved black jacket, and my silver panda necklace to finish off the outfit. I couldn't forget the touch of black nail polish and lipstick, either. My brown messenger bag that acted as my purse, I made sure to stuff my wallet and smartphone into it before I left.

"I'll be back later, everybody!" It might have been a good idea to bring them with me, but I just couldn't. This was one of those things I needed to do alone. Sure, it would have been nice to have some friends along, but I didn't want them to see what was about to go down. I didn't want them to get worried about me or be as depressed as I am.

…..

My first stop was at the local store to get a few small bouquets of flowers, three to be precise. I hadn't really put much thought into what I picked, as getting their favorite flowers were either too expensive for me or just not available at the time, so I just grabbed three different bouquets of carnations: pink, white, and red.

The next stop was the local graveyard. I hadn't been there since Dad's funeral, and I thought it was about time to get some fresh air and say hello to all of the people in my life that had passed on. Both Grandma and Pops were buried right next to each other in a mausoleum, while Dad was in a separate one (thanks to my stepmother's planning of his funeral). I visited the two old folks first, giving Grandma the pretty pink carnations while Pops got the white ones. I actually had to get somebody from the graveyard office to help me since their spots in the mausoleum were high up where my short size couldn't reach.

I didn't say much to them at all.

Over the years, I always filled Grandma in about all the new stuff in my life that she never got to see. I even came here the day I graduated in my cap and gown to show her that I'd finished school. Grandma would have been absolutely ecstatic, knowing her. She always had high hopes for me and my future. When Dad was all grown up, she felt like she had no purpose in life, until I was born. People always told me I made the last few years of her life the best she ever had.

Pops, well, he and I always had an understanding between each other. I didn't need to really tell him anything, he always knew everything just from a single glance at you. He was just that kind of person. Very intelligent and always helping others, the image of a perfect Christian man who loved his wife and son.

After visiting those two, I went to see Dad. His grave looked so lonely…I knew he wanted to be near his parents when he died, but his wife had other ideas, for whatever reason she put him here instead, I don't know why. I just wished that he'd have gotten what he wanted after his sudden death.

"Hi…sorry I haven't been to visit sooner…I've had a lot on my plate…lots of drama during and after the funeral, you know, the usual with our family…I've also had a lot of crazy things happen to me lately. You probably would never believe me if I told you, so I'll just skip that part…" I put the last batch of flowers in the cup attached to the name plate. "Haven't really missed much down here…I guess…Looks like you finally got what you wanted…" He'd been depressed for years, and with his diabetes, it wasn't really helping his health. Some of us that knew him more than others say that he just gave up on life after Pops died. With both his parents gone and with me all grown up, not needing him anymore, what else was there for him to do in this world?

I blame myself. I know it sounds really stupid, but after I moved out, our relationship became pretty much nonexistent again. His stepchildren had all grown up, his only child had moved out and wasn't speaking to him, (I wished he would have tried to contact me more, I wasn't mad at him at all!) he had no more purpose here. He just wanted to be with his parents.

But he left the rest of us behind when he gave up. I don't know if he ever understood how much I cared about him. There were special memories that were engrained on my heart, and when I heard he was gone, it just broke me. I can't go back to the bowling alley he worked at anymore without the fear of me losing my composure that I've held for so long, shattering into pieces. Every time I think of him, it hurts, like someone just stabbed me, literally stabbing me in the heart.

I keep losing everything…a lot of people say I'm a strong person, that I'll get through all this pain, but I haven't told anybody, not even my closest friend, about my biggest fear. Nothing in the universe scares me more than the thought of being left alone. I always joke and say to myself that one day I'll be a crazy lady with fifty cats in her house, never leaving my home and being the talk of the neighborhood. But every time I lose someone, I feel like I'm one step closer to that becoming a reality.

I don't want to be alone…the loneliness hurts more than the fear of death does…

…..

After the depressing visit to the cemetery, instead of immediately going home in such a state, I went to the local park. Some room to breathe and fresh air to help me "chill out" so to speak was just what the doctor ordered. I felt like a huge amount of pressure had been lifted off of my chest within the first few minutes of sitting on the one of the benches, taking in the gorgeous landscape to lift my spirits.

It wasn't an entirely great idea coming here, though. The fresh air was nice, but the trip down "Melancholy Lane" wasn't. There were families here with young children playing at the park. I actually get jealous of these kids. They actually had a childhood with their fathers, full of laughter and joy; instead of the one I had with two split-up parents and bad blood all around. Anytime the word "father" was brought up or any of the words similar to that, I just wanted to run and hide from the waves of emotions. At least now they were small waves that only push you back. For the good first two weeks after I got the news, I was hit with many of the big ones that smash into you with enough force to topple you over and send you face-first into the water.

Sometimes I just wish for once, I had a moment were I wasn't choking back tears or trying to put on a brave face for everyone. Can't for a single second I can just let the façade go and be myself…?

Maybe it was time to go home. I'm getting depressed again. Just being here alone with nobody to talk to gives me too much time to think, and when I think, all of my thoughts eventually take a dark turn. I stood and prepared myself to head back, but a commotion farther into the park stopped me.

"…What's going on over there…?" A huge crowd was migrating towards the picnic area, more specifically, the old stone building that acted like a food stand. I had to see at least see what was up before I left. There could have been some kid choking on a hot dog or an old lady having a heart attack.

As I neared the building, though, I heard the loud sound of an explosion. The whole crowd practically turned on their heels and fled like a startled herd of antelope, crashing right into clumsy me. I ended up on my butt and stepped on a few times, but nothing too serious. That wasn't my first worry at the moment. Hopefully nobody had been inside the stand when the explosion went off!

You guys know me enough by now that you probably predicted the dumb thing I did next: of course I went TOWARDS the flaming death trap instead of away from it. I'm the world's greatest genius when it comes to disasters, I know. (That was sarcasm for anybody that didn't realize it.)

Something must have happened to one of the grills inside because the whole inside was on fire. The serving window was wide open, so I used that to look inside. No sign of movement, so if there had been people alive in there, they were gone now.

_What could have happened…? A gas leak…?_

_But those were electric grills…_

I smelled something fishy going on, but I didn't have time to find out. I moved away from the building and whipped out my phone to call the fire department when I realized that it wasn't just the food stand: other small amenities like the restrooms, smaller stands throughout the park, and even just random patches of the park were starting to light on fire.

_Is it an arson attack?! These fires can NOT be an accident…_

My more logical part of my brain was telling me to get out of the park as fast as my stick legs could carry me, but the more humanitarian part wanted me to stay and help get these families to safety.

Which side do you think I listened to?

Obviously the humanitarian part.

I ended up scrambling around common places that people hung out like the playgrounds, the sitting areas, etc. and so forth to make sure everybody got out. Yeah, the scene of me running through a park now resembling a warzone looked almost comical except for the fact fire was just popping up and spreading out of nowhere.

Farther into the park, I was checking the sandbox area when I noticed a little girl about 7 years old running straight towards me, crying and screaming something through the roar of the crackling flames.

"**IT'S A MONSTER! IT'S GONNA EAT ME!"**

I didn't really get what she meant until a familiar figure burst from a pillar of flames, murderous intent burned into the look of his flaming eyes.

This was one of the things I was definitely afraid of.

"…Brand…"

Previously known as Kegan Rodhe, he was possessed by a being that absolutely hated all man and Yordle-kind. Obviously, given the opportunity to freely destroy a world without opposition from the powerful Demacian army, he was letting loose.

Now my flight instinct was working into overdrive. The little girl, as soon as she collided into my legs, I scooped her up, turned tail, and ran. (Yeah, like I'M going to be able to protect her from this burning monster!) I still had my phone in my free hand, so I speed-dialed the house. Thank the Summoners I taught him how the phone worked!

_Ring…Ring… _

_"Hello?"_

"Ezreal!"

"_Misaki? What's wrong?!"_

"I'M BEING CHASED BY BRAND, WHAT **ISN'T **WRONG?! GET OVER TO THE PARK, NOW!"

Before he could even respond, I hung up on him and shoved my phone bag in my bag, all the while I was running and trying to duck his Q, Sear, as he fired it multiple times at me.

_I can't get hit! He'll roast me alive if I give him even the slightest chance, especially if he gets Blaze on me!_

A familiar ring of fire on the ground halted me in my tracks. I took several quick steps back and barely avoided the W he just tried to get me with. His Pillar of Flame shot up out of the ground, causing another fire on the grass.

_So that's how the fires started…! I at least have to get the kid out of here. Maybe I can distract him until the kid escapes._

"You get on out of here, kiddo." I put the girl down and gave her a little shove in the direction of the exit. "I got this guy."

I didn't have to ask her twice, she was running before I got the last sentence completely out. Now I turned my attention to Brand, who had caught up with me now that there was a bunch of fire blocking my path.

"HEY BRAND! Yeah, you ugly pyro! Do you know why nobody picks you in champ select?! BECAUSE ANNIE HAS A STRONGER MID LANE GAME THAN YOU!" I stuck my tongue out at him and took off running in another direction where it was safe for me to run without getting scorched. Oh, that really pissed him off, getting compared to a kid that carries around a teddy bear.

I just barely moved out of the way of another Pillar of Flame when he struck me on my uninjured forearm with Sear. I swore loudly as the son of a bitch's attack burned my skin to the point of it almost being a third-degree burn, and let's not forget the added burning effect of Blaze for four seconds. I was annoyed enough to flip him off while I continued running.

That just made the flaming mage even angrier. I heard the roar that he shouted from the game when he fired another Pillar of Flame, missing me entirely. I started laughing, but I shut up really quickly when I realized he wasn't aiming for me. He had been aiming for a tree that instantly came crashing down mere inches in front of my nose. He'd just cut off my escape. I'm not stupid enough for my clumsy ass to try to jump that tree while it's on fire. I'm not a circus tiger!

"Uh-oh…" I turned around to face Mr. Fiery Death Incarnate, coughing a bit from all of the smoke around me. He returned my scared look with a death glare of his own. I swear to god if he pops Pyroclasm, that giant flaming ball of bouncing fire that is his ultimate, I'm toast. LITERALLY.

But, a certain explorer decided at the moment to have excellent timing. I saw Ezreal's ultimate pass through Brand, causing the vengeful spirit to turn in the direction it had come from.

"RUN, MISAKI!"

Familiar blonde hair popped into view as Ezreal used Arcane Shift to jump into the fight and slam him in the face with Mystic Shot. While he kept Brand busy, I ran for it, having to run around the felled tree to keep moving forward.

"Saki! Keep going! Tibbers will stay with you!" Annie was running towards the fight to help Ezreal fight Brand while she tossed her teddy bear my way. Tibbers had to jog to catch up with me, but he stayed behind me like a sort of giant fluffy shield. Somehow, Tibbers' flaming aura was keeping Brand's wild fire he started away from us as well.

With Tibbers covering me and two champions fighting off Brand so I could escape, I thought I was in the clear. I'd wait for them to wear him down so I could send him back, and then I'd go about my day.

Brand proved me wrong rather quick.

I don't know how he slipped past Ezreal and Annie (probably using his passive combined with Sear to stun them and slip away) but before I knew it, I heard the dying scream of Tibbers. I turned around just in time to see the shadow bear vanish, and now Pyroclasm was headed right for me. There was nothing I could do as it came straight for me, blasting me right in the upper body.

Screaming, I fell to the ground. The heat was unbearable. My skin, my clothes, my hair, everything was burning. And Brand was laughing, like torturing a defenseless human being was enjoyable. It was sickening to hear him.

It felt like I was burning forever, I just kept screaming for it to stop. I know it was only a few seconds though. I think Brand quickly got bored of watching me suffer, because I heard the sound of more flames.

"I purify this one! This body is just one of many!"

_Is he getting ready to finish me off…? Somebody…save me…it hurts…I hope Ezreal and Annie are okay, at least…he could do me a favor and make it quick if he's going to end it…_

But nothing came, no more pain, and the physical pain from his ultimate was starting to ebb away all of a sudden.

_Is that…music…?_

A loud sound like somebody striking a chord had somehow stopped Brand in his tracks. Then more less elegant chords were struck, like somebody was really angry and just slammed a few bad notes on their guitar. If I didn't know any better, it sounded like…

If my hunch was correct, I had 1.5 seconds to send Brand back before the stun wore off. My reaction was slow, and he was definitely mobile again by the time I was able to stand, but I guess he didn't predict that I was going to just suddenly charge him and grab him by the arm. He blasted me right in the face with his Sear attack, but it was too late. As I was thrown back by the attack, my face starting to burn once again, he was already vanishing in a bright light.

"…He's gone…"

I heard voices shouting my name in the distance, but I couldn't move. I could barely see anything nonetheless, except for a flash of bright cyan blue before I slipped into the darkness completely.

"_Rest peacefully... You have done well…"_


End file.
